Sales

Marketing Qualified Lead(MQL)

A lead that has shown enough interest to be considered worth contacting by sales.

A Marketing Qualified Lead is a lead that meets a defined threshold of marketing-driven engagement (content downloads, demo requests, repeat visits, etc.) to be considered worth handing to sales. MQL criteria vary by company — some companies are loose, some tight. Loose MQL criteria flood sales with junk; tight criteria starve sales of pipeline. Calibration is ongoing.

Example

A SaaS company defines MQL as: enterprise-sized company + at least 2 visits + content download + meets ICP criteria. Marketing hands MQLs to sales; sales determines if they progress to SQL.

Related terms

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